Huawei Watch Hands-On: The best Android wear smartwatch yet?

The Huawei Watch is a slim, lightweight smartwatch which will challenge the Apple Watch when it is releasedIBTimes UK

Huawei, the Chinese company which sold 75 million smartphones in 2014 is looking to make a big mark in the burgeoning wearables market.

Last year it launched the TalkBand B1 ftness tracker and at Mobile World Conference in Barcelona on Sunday, 1 March, the company unveiled the updated TalkBand B2 alongside its smart N1 headphones.

But the most interesting device it launched was the Huawei Watch, which it is pitching as a premium wristwatch with a smart core. After the announcement IBTimes UK managed to get a look at the watch:

Huawei Watch: Design

CEO Richard Yu was keen to stress the importance of the Watch's design which he referred to as "timeless". Huawei even had its Apple-esqe video about the process of designing the Watch including Huawei's own Jony Ive in the form of English designer

The watch comes in three colours. The more classic gold and silver will appeal to those looking for a smartwatch that looks like a smartwatch and the black version is a more modern take and looks more like the smartwatches on the market already.

The Watch supports traditional 18mm lugs, meaning you can customize the strap to your liking and the Chinese company will offer a range of metal and leather straps to go with the Watch.

However with its circular screen and slim profile, the Huawei Watch is much more appealing as a watch than anything on the market so far.

The Huawei Watch is a stylish Android Wear smartwatch which will appeal to the premium end of the marketIBTimes UK

Side-by-side with the Moto 360, it is clear that Huawei's design process has worked and the cold-pressed steel unibody felt light but strong.

It is hard to tell just how comfortable a watch will be without extended wearing, but at first glance the Huawei Watch seems to be the best designed Android Wear watch on the market by some distance.

Huawei Watch: Features and screen

The Huawei Watch will feature a 6-axis motion sensor to better track what you are doing, and will be able to tell, Huawei claims, when you are cycling, running, mountain climbing or simply brushing your teeth.

The watch also has a barometer to tell you how far above sea level you are.

On the rear of the watch is an optical heart rate sensor which will constantly track how fast your heart is beeping and if necessary give you alerts.

The Huawei Watch looks and feels like a normal wristwatch and is the most appealing of all Android Wear smartwatches on the marketIBTimes UK

The 42mm screen of the Watch is a traditional circular shape and the company was at pains to point out this was a full circle unlike the Moto 360 which was partially blocked off. It is also the highest resolution screen of any current Android Wear device at 286 pixels per inch and the screen certainly looked bright, crisp with great colours.

Huawei Watch: Android Wear

The demonstration models Huawei had stock Android Wear running so there's not much we can glean from this. The one addition Huawei is making is a series of 40 custom watch faces to fit the circular screen.

Google is likely to launch an update to its Android Wear software later in the year, so by the time the Huawei Watch comes to market is could be running the new version.

Huawei Watch: Battery Life

Who knows? Richard Yu singularly avoided all talk of the battery life of the Huawei Watch during his announcement and questions to Huawei's PR team afterwards yielded nothing.

The Huawei Watch has a heart rate monitor on the rear to constantly monitor your heart rateIBTimes UK

Clearly this is a major issue for smartwatch manufacturers but Huawei's avoidance of the question is worrying.

One thing we can say is that the Watch will be charged using a custom three-pin connector on the rear.

Huawei Watch: Price and Availability

Again, there is little in the way of concrete information about availability and nothing on pricing. Yu said that the Huawei Watch would be available in the middle of this year, but failed to mention pricing.

There could even be different pricing levels for the gold, silver and black versions, but as we said, nothing has been mentioned about pricing so far here in Barcelona.

So, is this the best Android Wear smartwatch ?

Potentially. If Huawei gets the pricing and battery life right, then there is no doubt this is the most stylish and appealing smartwatch on the market running Android Wear. Clearly Apple's own Watch will be on the market by the time Huawei's Watch comes out which will mean getting pricing and battery life right will be even more crucial.